Ravenprongs
by I. H. Scribe
Summary: Will's ravenstag turns out to be a person.


Fandoms: Harry Potter, Hannibal

Characters: Harry Potter, Will Graham, Hannibal Lecter

Prompt: The Ravenstag - is it just a figment of Will's fevered dreams or is it something more? When Will stumbles upon one such creature after waking from a somnambulatory state, not aware that it is just the animagus form of the wizard refugee Harry Potter, he fears that his mind is slipping even further into delusion and begins to have difficulty differentiating his imagination from reality. Can Dr. Lecter help Will find his footing in reality and discern truth from the illusion, and where does the sad British youth with the haunted green eyes fit in this dilemma?

Prompt Made By: Lulzlullylulz

Disclaimer: I don't own the following series(es) or any character(s) that follow, and unless _I. H. Scribe_ is listed after _Prompt Made By_ chances are I don't own the idea for this story either.

* * *

Will snapped to wakefulness while in the middle of a clearing and froze. Usually, after snapping out of his sleepwalking episodes, visions of what he had dubbed the ravenstag would leave him. Instead, today – or rather tonight, the feathered stag stood in front of him and huffed in his face. And if Will wasn't mistaken, and he rarely was, the ravenstag wore a concerned look on its face.

"Decided to stick around this time?" Will asked, patting the ravenstag's snout. The ravenstag gave him a strange look, huffed at him again, and nudged him backwards a little. Will suddenly noticed the cold of the night, and turned to make his way back home.

The ravenstag huffed, and then followed him the whole way, only leaving once he reached the back door to his house.

* * *

Harry Potter, if he had been in his human form, would have probably yelled at the idiot that walked into his clearing in the middle of the night with only pajama bottoms on. Didn't the idiot know how cold it was? Harry was lucky his animagus form came with feathers and fur.

It wasn't until the man came closer, that Harry realized he wasn't actually awake. While he had never sleepwalked himself, after the war Ron had started doing it. Waking someone up from an episode could be violent, so the best thing to do was corral them back to bed – the only problem was, Harry didn't know where the man even came from!

He spent a few minutes keeping the man from leaving the clearing; if nothing else, Harry could get him to lie down and cuddle with him so he didn't freeze to death. About twenty minutes later, the man finally woke up. Harry gave him a concerned look as he nearly descended into a panic attack.

"Decided to stick around this time?" the man asked, patting his snout. Harry gave him what would have been a confused look on a human, but just looked strange on his animagus form. Harry huffed at him, and nudged him back – maybe the idiot would get the hint to go home. It seemed to work as he turned to leave.

Harry huffed again, cursing his saving people thing as Hermione had called it, and began following the man. He'd make sure the idiot got home safe, and learn where his house was so he could guide the idiot back home if it happened again. He stuck a wandless tracking charm on the man just in case.

* * *

It took three days for Harry to guilt himself into checking on the man. There was no one at the house when he checked. His activated his tracking charm, and noticing the man was in a city somewhere nearby, Harry changed back into his human form, and apparated. His magic would insure he appeared somewhere where nobody and no cameras were looking.

He found the man at a crime scene, shaking, and frowned. The idiot obviously wasn't taking good care of himself, and the other man standing behind him and scowling at him wasn't doing him any favors. Another man in a suit approached, and guided the idiot away from the scene. At least someone was taking care of him.

* * *

Will was grateful for Dr. Lecter pulling him away from Jack and the crime scene. It was another victim of the Chesapeake Ripper and he always had trouble looking at those. Suddenly he froze. Staring back at him, from the other side of the police tape, were the eyes of the ravenstag.

"Will?" Dr. Lecter asked. Will looked at him for a moment and then turned back. It wasn't the ravenstag but a man that the eyes belonged too. A man that was already walking away.

"It, it's nothing," Will said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

* * *

"And today, when you froze?" Dr. Lecter asked.

"I," Will paused and licked his lips. "I've been having nightmares lately, about a stag covered in feathers and blood. Usually, the stag's eyes are red, but the last time they were green. A bright vivid green. There was a man there today that had a similar shade of green."

"And you thought for a moment that you were hallucinating this stag instead of just dreaming it."

"Yeah." But Will wasn't so sure. The man's eyes hadn't just been a similar shade of green – they had been the _exact same_ shade.

* * *

Will snapped to alertness. He was back to the clearing again, leaning back against the large ravenstag. The one with green eyes instead of red and now, as he could feel, no blood soaked feathers.

"Are there two ravenstags? Or am I just going crazy?" Will asked aloud, not expecting an answer. The stag huffed, helped him up, and then walked him home. "You keep doing this, and I'm going to start thinking you like me."

The ravenstag huffed again, and then licked him, covering half of his face in slobber, before turning around and leaving.

* * *

The idiot had made his way back to Harry's clearing, and apparently decided the best thing to do would be to lean back against him like he was the back of a couch or a chair. When he finally managed to wake up, Harry was immediately concerned when the idiot asked if there were two of him.

Harry was the only one with his particular animagus in the world, or so he had thought – if there was another, it might be trying to track him down for some unknown reason. The only thing Harry could do was get the idiot home and then start investigating what was going on.

After he insured the idiot made his way home, the man said, "You keep doing this, and I'm going to start thinking you like me." If Harry had been capable of it, he would have rolled his eyes. Instead, he huffed and gave the man a playful lick, filled with as much slobber as he could manage, and turned to leave.

_Eugh_.

What had he been thinking? The man tasted like a rotten cross between sweat and blood. Harry would have shivered if he had been capable of it.

* * *

It took Harry three weeks to realize that he wasn't going to be finding the second ravenstag (he hadn't actually had a name for his animagus form before, so he started using the man's name) himself. He had taken to following around the man – whose name he learned was Will Graham – in both ravenstag form (when Will was at home) and human form (when Harry needed to blend in with a crowd).

Will was his only connection to the other ravenstag. Unfortunately, Harry's presence seemed to make him think he was going crazy, or crazier than he already was. Still, he allowed Harry to remain, instead of trying to chase him away, and even allowed Harry into his house on occasion.

It was on one of these occasions that Will received a visitor. Dr. Lecter, the man who had been taking care of Will when he wouldn't do it himself, came for a short visit. Lecter's first sight of him was when Will was in the other room. The look on his face made Harry give off an amused huff.

As soon as Will entered the room however, Dr. Lecter was back to what seemed to pass for normal for him. And then he did something Harry wasn't expecting. He ignored him. Lecter didn't ask about him or even look in his direction. Perhaps Will had already explained about him?

And then Lecter did something that made Harry angry. He pretended he didn't see him – told Will to his face that there was nothing else in the room with them. That Harry was only in Will's imagination. This man was supposed to be taking care of Will, not making him worse. Did he think Harry wouldn't say anything?

And then it hit him. That's _exactly_ what Lecter thought. Neither him nor Will were aware that the ravenstag was Harry's animagus form, or that the green-eyed man that had been following Will around from crime scene to crime scene was the ravenstag.

He'd have to change that.

* * *

As soon as Lecter left, Harry waited for Will to glance in his direction, and transformed back into his human form. It was time the two of them had a talk.

"Wha, but, you!"

"Me," Harry said. "Sorry if I scared you."

"You're not real. You're just a product of my imagination."

"No, Will. I assure you I am very real. My name is Harry."

"Dr. Lecter," Will began.

"Saw me and then pretended he didn't," Harry interrupted. "I'm not sure why. It seems a very strange thing to do, but I am absolutely certain I am real."

"I'm not," Will said.

"Then we'll just have to change that. Lecter isn't the only person you know. Call one of them, and see if they can see me."

"Oh no, not again."

"Again?"

"Last time I called Alana over was because I was hearing animals in the wall that weren't there. It's not going to happen again!"

"Fine, not Alana then. One of the others. For God's sake Graham, pull yourself together."

"How do you know what my name is?"

"It's on your answering machine, idiot. You do remember practically inviting me into your house, don't you?"

"I, but, NO!"

Harry sighed, as Will ran upstairs. He'd get to the bottom of whatever the hell was going on; first he just had to get Will to see that he was real.

* * *

"What the hell are we doing here, Will?" Harry heard. Since confronting Will with his human form a few hours ago, he'd been hiding out in his clearing, sulking.

"Just a little farther, Jack," Will said. Will entered the clearing and stopped when he saw Harry's animagus form.

"Will? Why did you-JESUS CHRIST! What the hell _is_ that thing?" The man named Jack entered the clearing right after and caught sight of Harry.

"That would be a ravenstag," Will said. "Assuming of course, that's what you're talking about and I'm not going crazy."

"Not unless it's contagious," Jack muttered.

Harry transformed with an annoyed look on his face, "Neither of you are crazy, bloody idiots. Are you ready to talk yet?" He directed the last question to Will.

* * *

"Hannibal pretended he didn't see you?" Jack asked.

"Yes," Harry said. He wasn't particularly fond of Hannibal Lecter anymore. "He's also been here while Will's been away."

"I've asked him to feed my dogs a couple of times," Will said.

"Yes, but he comes when you ask the lady to feed your dogs too – Cats, I think?"

"Beverly Katz," Will said. "I don't like asking Dr. Lecter if I can help it. It's a long drive from Baltimore. Beverly lives closer."

"Well he's making it, even if he doesn't have too. Feeds the dogs some sausages and stays for a while."

"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation, "Jack said, "but we'll put in some hidden cameras just in case. If that's alright with you, Will."

"Yeah, sure."

"Now, what's all this about another ravenstag?" Harry asked.

Will winced and then grimaced. "I've been hallucinating two of you. Or I thought I was hallucinating you, but the other one has red eyes and is covered in blood. He's been following me around while I've been sleepwalking."

"Sleepwalking? Why wasn't I told about this?" Jack asked. Will winced again.

"I didn't want you to know. And I think I might have actually been hallucinating the other one. I never came out of sleepwalking with blood covered hands, even if I touched it."

* * *

It was only two days later that Will was called out on another case. Lecter showed up again in the evening, without knowing about the cameras. Will and Jack were both in for a surprise when they got back.

On his way out the door, Lecter was confronted by Harry in his animagus form.

"What are you?" Lecter asked. He kept his eye on Harry as he slowly made his way to the back of his car. He pulled out a rifle.

* * *

Harry would have scowled if he could, instead he sent a tripping jinx at Lecter and took off. Even magic couldn't stop a bullet. Lecter chased him for three miles before giving up the chase. Evidently he thought he had chased Harry off for good.

Harry looked forward to turning him into a toad.

* * *

"What is he doing?" Jack asked. Will leaned forward and squinted at the screen.

"He's adding something to one of my lures," Will said.

"What?"

"Only one way to find out?" Will brought in the lure box the next day and Jack had Beverly test them.

* * *

"You're not going to like this Jack," Beverly said, handing Jack the report.

"How bad could it be?" Will asked, as Jack read the report.

"Four?" Jack asked, glancing at Beverly.

"And not just any four people, either. The victims of the copycat."

"He added pieces of the victims to my lure?" Will asked.

"Lures. He did it four different ones," Beverly said.

"Only one we've got video on," Jack said. "It should be enough to connect him to the others. Unless there's something you'd like to tell me Will?"

"It wasn't me," Will said, shaking his head.

"Then Dr. Lecter is our copycat."

* * *

Will sat at his kitchen table with his gun, facing the only way into the kitchen. "Here we go," he muttered, pulling out his cellphone and dialing.

"Will, is there something wrong?" Dr. Lecter asked as soon as he picked up.

"We need to talk Dr. Lecter," Will said.

"Of course. Would you like to come over?"

"I'd prefer the home field advantage, thanks. I found your lures."

Lecter was silent for a moment, and then said, "And what do you plan to do now, William?"

"As I said, we need to talk."

"Of course. If you'll wait, I'll be right over."

"I'd get here quickly, Dr. Lecter, or I might end up calling Jack."

* * *

Two FBI teams and three SWAT teams waited in Harry's clearing in the forest. He was in his human form, watching and listening along with the others as Will contacted Lecter to bring him to a place where there weren't so many people.

Beverly whistled, "Damn, he's good." Jack's cellphone went off.

"It's Lecter. Everyone shut up," Jack said. Once everyone was quiet, he answered it, "Dr. Lecter, what can I do for you?"

"I'm afraid for Will's sanity," Lecter said. "He called me earlier and seems to be suffering from some mild delusions."

"How mild are we talking, Doctor?"

"Very minor, nothing to worry about. I'm on my way to see him now, but please disregard anything he says if he calls you."

"Of course, Dr. Lecter. Just make sure he's alright."

"I will." Lecter hung up.

"What an asshole," Beverly said.

"Can I kick him before you take him away?" Harry asked.

"No," Jack said.

"Can _I_ kick him before we take him away?" Beverly asked.

"No," Jack repeated.

* * *

"Will?" Lecter asked, entering the house slowly.

"In here," Will said, pointing the gun at Lecter the second he stepped into view.

"Now, Will, do you really need that?" Lecter asked, raising his arms in a mock surrender.

"Until I know where we stand, yes," Will said. "Why?"

"Why what, Will?"

"You _know_ why what! I thought you were my friend! Why would you do this to me?"

"I am your friend, Will."

"Friends don't frame friends for murder."

"I'm trying to help you, Will."

"Help me with what? How does framing me for murder help me!?"

"You could be so much more than you are, Will. You only need to stop fearing what you're capable of."

"How could you possibly think that framing me would help me stop being afraid? Oh. It's because your first kill freed your fear, didn't it? Who?"

"The men who killed my sister."

"And you haven't stopped since."

"You've seen more of my work, Will. Can you figure out which are mine."

"The only one we haven't caught is...you're the Chesapeake Ripper _and_ the copycat?"

"Very good, Will. Yes, I'm the Chesapeake Ripper and the copycat."

* * *

"Lecter's the Ripper?" Jack yelled.

"Now would be the time to go get him, before he kills Will, yes?" Harry asked. Jack shook off the shock.

"Go get that bastard," Jack told the teams.

* * *

"What's keeping me from going to Jack with this?" Will asked.

"Jack won't believe you. I called him earlier – told him you were in a state of delusion. No matter what you tell him, he won't believe you."

"You really think you were helping me, don't you?"

"Of course."

"I'm sorry, Dr. Lecter, but we're going to have to agree to disagree on both subjects."

"Will?"

Will's front and back door were slammed inward as SWAT and FBI agents surrounded them.

"Goodbye, Dr. Lecter."

* * *

"So I guess that's it," Will said, watching the last of the agents leave.

"Not quite," Harry said. "Agent Crawford wants to go over everything that Lecter ever did with you. Just in case he screwed you over any more than what we know about."

"And I suppose you'll be leaving?"

"No," Harry said. "You seem intent on not taking care of yourself. Someone has to. I can only be in this form for a few hours at a time though."

"Why?"

"There are some pretty bad people trying to track me down. Staying in my ravenstag form interferes with their method of tracking."

"So you're actually called a ravenstag?"

"Hell if I know. I just took your name for it." Harry laughed a few seconds later.

"What's so funny?"

"My dad was able to turn into a stag too, an actual stag though. His nickname was Prongs. I thought it would be kinda funny if he was a ravenstag like me. Might of made him Ravenprongs instead."

Will laughed. Then he realized something. "You _licked_ me."

"And you tasted _awful_."

* * *

As always, I am accepting prompts, however, I am not accepting prompts through reviews. If you wish to give me a prompt, please see the Accepting Prompts section of my profile for instructions. Thank you.

I. H. Scribe


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